House Judiciary Committee Passes Legislation to Prosecute International Trade Crimes

Today, the House Judiciary Committee passed bipartisan legislation that will target Chinese companies who abuse our nation’s trade laws. The Protecting American Industry and Labor from International Trade Crimes Act is led by Select Committee Chairman John Moolenaar and Select Committee members Congresswoman Ashley Hinson (R-IA), Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), and others. The legislation would create a new Department of Justice task force to enforce trade-related crimes committed by Chinese companies including but not limited to tariff and duty evasion, import and export restrictions, all other laws and regulations involving criminal activities relating to American imports and exports, trade-based money laundering, and smuggling.

“This bipartisan legislation targets the CCP’s manipulative trade practices and Chinese companies that intentionally break our laws. We must level the playing field and stop Chinese companies from undermining our industries and threatening American jobs,” said Moolenaar. “Many thanks to Chairman Jordan, Congresswoman Hinson, and everyone who has supported this legislation. I will continue to work with my colleagues in the weeks and months ahead to make this legislation into law.” 

What This Bill Does 

· Creates a new task force by hiring criminal trial attorneys and related personnel to investigate and prosecute trade-related crimes under the purview of the DOJ's Criminal Division.

· Enables federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies to partake in essential training or receive technical assistance to broaden their capacity to investigate and prosecute, and to pursue parallel criminal and civil enforcement actions, against persons in the PRC suspected of trade crime. 

· Mandates an annual report to Congress from the Attorney General evaluating DOJ efforts, trends in the statistics tracking trade crime, and fund utilization. 

A copy of the legislation is available here.